


Sky Full of Song

by Listless_Songbird



Series: Together We Sing in Unison (aka the d/s that no one asked for but here it is) [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Roman, Dom Virgil, Dom/Sub universe, M/M, Mixed Episode, Non-Sexual Submission, Sub Roman, this is entirely self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 20:03:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15915288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listless_Songbird/pseuds/Listless_Songbird
Summary: Roman needs someone to take him out of his head. Virgil just wants to take care of him.





	Sky Full of Song

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from a Florence + The Machine song by the same name that I listened to on loop while I was writing this. And yeah this was 100% a self indulgent fic, I love d/s universes and im honestly probably going to do more in this universe because I have Ideas for Patton and Logan and actually Remy surprisingly enough.
> 
> EDIT: Went back and fixed typos and grammar mistakes

Virgil rang the doorbell then knocked loudly when he didn’t hear any sound from inside. It wouldn’t be the first time that Roman had taken apart his doorbell and it probably wouldn’t be the last, but it meant that Roman might not hear him come in. Which could be anything from a pleasant surprise, to an unwelcome intrusion depending on how Roman was doing.

Not hearing any response Virgil took out his key and let himself in, dropping his backpack by the door and pulling off his shoes. Looking around the living room he couldn’t immediately see Roman so he made his way further inside. He heard the bathroom door being thrown open and took a step back as Roman almost barreled into him. Flinching backwards Roman looked up at him and snarled,

“What are you doing here?” Before pushing passed Virgil and into the living room where he started to pace. Alternating between running a hand through his hair and flexing his fingers like he had no idea what to do with his hands. Virgil went over to the kitchen table and sat on top crossing his legs, his gaze following Roman as he moved around the room. Eventually he spoke up,

“Logan texted me earlier saying you looked like you were trying to crawl out of your skin during class today.” At his voice Roman spun around to face him and stopped pacing, and when what Virgil was saying registered his face twisted into a sneer.

“And of course you had to come get your sub under control, it wouldn’t do to have me be anything but perfect huh? Well I hate to break it to you, Tall Dark and Emo, but im _just fine_.” Virgil raised an eyebrow, so that was how it was going to be,

“Ah yes Logan. They’re such a traditionalist. Of course they would _send_ me here for just that reason. It’s not like they’ve gone to every single dynamic right’s protest and event on campus. I must be confused.” Roman looked like he was about to say something scathing so Virgil raised his voice slightly and barreled through. “I _came_ because i’m your friend Ro, I told you I would be here for you but you seem to forget that that doesn’t just apply when you’re in a depressive episode.” Roman shook his head like he was trying to clear it and went back to pacing around.

“I’m fine.” His voice was short and clipped and he was avoiding looking at where Virgil was seated. Virgil snorted and propped his head up on his fist,

“Sure you are. This whole prowling around like a caged tiger inspires great confidence in your mental health.” That got a rough snort from Roman as he finally glanced over,

“Are you actually worried about _my_ mental health?” Virgil continued to follow Roman around the room with his gaze as he shot Roman the most sarcastic smile in his arsenal.

“Oh! I had forgotten that my mental health is a _raging dumpster fire!_ Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention!” His smile dropped. “You do realize that pointing it out doesn’t actually help you in any way. Cause despite how fucked up I am, I’m still the most stable person in this room. So what does that say about you?” Roman had stopped prowling around the room in favor of glaring at Virgil, bouncing on his toes slightly like he couldn’t stand still.

“I’m. Fine.” Virgil tilted his head and hummed.

“Mmmmm, im not convinced,” then straightening up like he had an idea he said “Lets play 20 questions, the only answer you can’t give is any variation of ‘I’m fine’. Question one: This seems much worse than a normal episode, did you stop taking your meds again?” At that Roman’s fists clenched and he stalked out of the room, coming back with a pill bottle in hand which he flung at Virgil. It hit him in the shoulder and fell down to the table, Virgil glanced at it, but just seeing that Roman knew where his meds had been was enough for Virgil.

“Congrats, gold star on that one. Question two: How long has this,” Vigil waved his hand to encompass all of Roman, “Been going on? Question three: Why the fuck didn’t you call me?” Roman had stopped bouncing and except for an occasional spasm of his hands had gone completely still.

“Im Fine.” Each word seemed bitten out like Roman didn’t want to be saying them so Virgil just kept his eyes locked on Roman, he knew he could out wait him, and knew that Roman was close to breaking and was holding himself together with his fingernails. Eventually Roman repeated himself, dropping his gaze from Virgil’s.

“I’m fine.” to which Virgil replied

“Oh good! You’ve graduated from asshole to broken record! Come on Princey, use those big boy words of yours. I can’t fucking help you if I have no idea what’s going on” Virgil softened his tone, trying to get Roman’s attention back on him. “Hey, im serious Ro, can you let me help you? You look like you’re about to shatter to pieces, what do you need?”  Virgil stopped when he saw Roman’s expression finally change from anger into exhaustion and his shoulder slump slightly. He was off the table in a flash, wrapping his arms around Roman and pulling him close.

He felt more than saw Roman crumple, curling into himself and pushing his face into the crook of Virgil’s neck like he was trying to hide from the world. Virgil kept his voice soft as he ran a hand up and down over Roman’s spine.

“Shhh, there we go. I’ve got you. It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay.”  Roman’s arms were still at his sides, curled tight and digging his nails into his palms. Virgil shuffled back slightly, still keeping Roman’s head on his shoulder, and one hand on the back of Roman’s neck while the other hand tapped on Roman’s wrist.

“Nope, we’re not doing this today, come on let go.” At this Roman just clenched his hands tighter and pushed his head harder into Virgil shoulder. His words were muffled in Virgil’s jacket as he spoke, but Virgil could still hear him.

“Make me.” It wasn’t defiant or angry. It was more of a question than anything and Virgil almost sighed in relief, he had finally gotten Roman to ask for something. When he spoke again he allowed some of the steel that he had been careful to keep out of his voice to slip through.

“Let go Roman.” And when Roman’s hands immediately went slack he brought his other hand back up to wrap around Roman again. “Good job, you did good. What do you need from me Ro?” Roman brought his hands up and tangled in the fabric over Virgil’s shoulders, clinging like his life depended on it.

“I can’t think, it’s all going so fast and I can’t keep up. Make it stop Vee?” Virgil pulled Roman closer, like he was trying to meld the two of them together as he said

“Are you going to use your safeword if I do? Don’t try to bullshit me here. No matter what answer i’m not going to leave you unless you want me too, but im not sending you down or do anything more than this unless I know you’re going to stop me if you need to. Are you going to stop me if what we’re doing doesn’t help or make it worse?” When Roman nodded into his shoulder, Virgil continued, “I need words Roman. Will you safeword out if you need it?” Roman nodded again but this time he said.

“If I need to I will Vee. Promise.” Virgil pulled Roman back and examined his face, eventually he nodded and gently cupped the side of Roman’s face, running his thumb along his cheek bone.

“What your safe word?”

“Macbeth.” Virgil nodded and moved his hand away, taking off his hoodie and handing it gently to Roman.

“Good job Ro. I need to grab some stuff from my bag, go to your room, change, and wait for me. I want you to think of all the colors you know that start with ‘B’. If you lose track you can start again, I won’t be long.” Roman nodded and turned in the direction of his room. Virgil waited till he saw Roman actually start moving towards his room until he turned to go back to his bag.

Grabbing his big sound proof headphones, a well worn copy of Alice in Wonderland, and the blindfold he had thrown in when Logan had texted him, not knowing what Roman would need today. Virgil gathered everything and headed back to Roman’s room.

* * *

 

When he entered he saw that Roman had changed into his sweatpants and Virgil’s jacket, but had started to draw at his desk. Instead of the usual focus and fluid motions Roman usually used when he was drawing, his shoulders were bunched up around his ears and his movements were abrupt and shaky. Virgil closed the door behind him and placed the stuff in his arms down on the bed before turning back to Roman and crossing his arms.

He knew for a fact the Roman had heard him come in because Roman had jumped in his chair and curled even further towards the desk than he had been, but he was deliberately ignoring Virgil.

Virgil stayed still and quiet as he figured out how he was going to go about this. Roman obviously wanted him to do something about his disobedience. Typically if he wanted to act out he would interpret Virgil’s orders as literally as possible, until Virgil got specific enough to close every loophole he could find. This blatant misbehaving had to be for some reason. He had changed into Virgil’s hoodie so Virgil knew it wasn’t about being uncomfortable, or wanting to put all the decisions and actions into Virgil’s control like it had been in the past.

As the silence stretched on Roman’s drawing turned into little more than scribbles and his leg had started to bounce up and down again. Eventually Virgil moved over to stand directly behind Roman, holding onto the back of Roman’s office chair.

“How many colors did you think of?” At the sound of Virgil’s voice Roman jumped, dropping his pencil but still remained silent. When Virgil spoke again, the steel undercurrent was much more obvious, immediately giving him Roman’s full attention.

“That wasn’t a rhetorical question Roman, I want an answer. How many colors could you think of that start with the letter B?” Roman looked over at Virgil and pressed his lips together more firmly and Virgil immediately figured out what Roman wanted him to do. He had said that his thoughts were going too fast for him to keep up, and it must be disorienting as hell to be caught up in.

He might not be able to stop the speed of Roman’s thinking, at least not yet, not while he was still up and tense as hell, but he could give Roman a way to vent his thoughts. Dropping into his full Dom voice Virgil spun Roman around so he was facing him, and grabbed onto his wrists and while staring him square in the eyes.

“Talk to me. Tell me everything that’s spinning going through your head. Everything. Don't leave anything out or try to edit what you’re saying. You don’t have to understand anything you say, that’s not your job anymore. Its mine.” Roman’s shoulders dropped and tension seemed to flow out of his posture. “I promise that I can understand anything you throw at me. I’m a certified Roman interpreter. You only have to do one thing Roman. Talk.” When Virgil finished Roman abruptly let out the breath he had been holding, and like a dam had been broken words began to tumble out of Roman’s mouth.

 

“I can’t think and I hate it and I can’t think so I couldn’t think of colors it was only blue black and brown all I could think of was the colors in an  eight pack box of fucking crayons and that was only because it was on my desk and it wont stop and I want it to stop its annoying and I can’t think and I can’t focus but I want to focus for you but i'm lost confused and clueless and you’re just standing there and I don’t know what to do besides just spew and I know you said this was all I needed to do so this is all I need to do but I can’t think and my head’s filled with static and it’s stealing my thoughts and I want them back I should steal them back from the static give them to you like Robin Hood give to the rich and take from the nope wrong way I can’t think make it stop Vee I can’t stop it and it's too loud and i'm drowning in it and nothing makes sense but you said it didn't need to make sense I didn’t need to understand it because you would and, oh that feels nice Vee. Don't stop?”

As Roman had been venting out all of his thoughts Virgil steered him over to the bed and gently pushed Roman until he was sitting on the bed with his feet hanging off the edge. Virgil straddled him, sitting on top of Roman’s thighs, and guiding Roman’s head back to his shoulder. Virgil carded his hand through Roman’s hair as he sat and listened to Roman talk. Eventually Roman’s sentences became less fragmented, and he had stopped repeating that he was drowning, or that he couldn’t think, so Virgil knew things were getting at least slightly better.

“Good job Roman, you’re doing so good. Sit up straight, I'm going to put on the headphones now, and I want you to sing along. If you get distracted from it i’ll start the song again as your cue to focus.” Virgil slid the headphones over Roman’s ears and turned on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack.

Roman closed his eyes as he listened and soon his voice filled the room. Occasionally he would stutter or stop as he got distracted by his brain going off on a tangent but Virgil would just start the song again. They stayed like that for a while, Virgil resting his hands on Roman’s shoulders as he sang, just enjoying the moment.

Eventually Roman opened his eyes again and Virgil saw that while he was calmer than he had been, he hadn't gone down at all. Sometimes following orders and Virgil sitting on him was enough to send Roman down, but that didn’t look to be the case today.

At the end of the next song Virgil took the headphones off and placed them back on the bed. He moved off Roman’s lap and gently massaged Roman’s legs in order to get the blood flowing again. He eventually stood up and grabbed Alice in Wonderland and held out his other hand for Roman to take.

“It’s time to get some food, then we can sit and watch some tv while you kneel for me for a while, how does that sound?” Roman nodded and grabbed his hand as he stood, wobbling a bit before he got his feet back under himself and followed Virgil out of his room

* * *

 

 

Virgil went over to the couch and put a pillow on the floor for Roman to kneel on, and when Roman planted himself on the pillow without prompting Virgil rewarded him with a gentle kiss on the forehead before moving to the kitchen. Whenever he got something out he would ask Roman if he wanted any of it and if he did Virgil would cut some of it into bite sized pieces and put it on his plate as well. Once the plate was filled Virgil went back over to Roman. Sitting down and maneuvering Roman so that he was leaning against his knee as he turned the tv on. He watched the show, some sci-fi crime drama, but he wasn’t really paying attention to it as he began to pet Roman’s hair. Alternating between gently scraping his nails from the top of his head to the base of his neck, and carding his hand through his hair. He ate his lunch with his other hand and every few bites or so would give a bite to Roman to take.

They were nearly halfway through the episode before Virgil felt Roman completely relax against his leg, and looking down he could see that Roman was finally under. He was blinking slowly and smiling and Virgil felt his smile match Roman’s.

“Good job, you’re doing great Starlight, you can stay down as long as you want, I’ll be here. You’re doing amazing Roman.” Roman gave a slow and sleepy smile and nudged his head slightly against Virgil’s knee and Virgil felt his heart melt Knowing that Roman trusted him enough to let himself go like this was always an amazing feeling and Virgil knew he would never get tired of it.

Virgil didn’t know how long the two of them stayed there, Virgil running his hand through Roman’s hair and praising him for letting Virgil take care of him. Eventually Virgil saw Roman begin to come back up and he pulled gently until Roman was up on the couch with him, before arranging Roman so his head was in Virgil’s lap and wrapping a blanket around him.

Virgil picked up Alice in Wonderland and opened to a random page and began to read aloud, letting his voice and the familiar story lead Roman fully back to him.

Once Roman was completely back in the present Virgil pulled Roman into another hug and asked,

“Is there anything else you need?” Roman smiled softly and shook his head.

“It’s quieter now, I can focus through the mess that was up there before. Thanks Stormcloud.” Roman’s brow furrowed slightly, “I do have homework though, shoot I had forgotten.” Roman pouted a bit and Virgil huffed out a laugh. 

“You know if you actually used the fancy planners Patton got all of us at the beginning of the year this wouldn’t be a weekly problem.” Roman smirked back and retorted

“Pot, meet kettle, do you even know where yours is? I know for a fact you have homework as well. I think the only one of us that actually uses those things is Logan, who of course has the entire thing color coded.” Virgil snorted and attempted to roll Roman off his lap.

“Get off you big lump, i’ll go grab our laptops so we can at least pretend that we aren’t both filthy procrastinators.” Roman refused to budge, moving with Virgil and doing his best to keep him in place.

“Or, and just hear me out on this one.” Roman pointed in the air to accentuate his point. “We can ignore our homework and stay here and rewatch the first season of Leverage again.” Virgil hummed like he was still considering it despite already reaching for the remote.

“Hmmm, I can’t decide.” He pulled up the first season on the screen, “Do I want to watch rich assholes be screwed out of their money? Or do I want to beat my head against my research paper for an hour.” He pressed play and set the remote back down. “Just really can’t decide, what do you think Princey?” Roman had started giggling when Virgil had picked up the remote, and when he replied Virgil could hear the smile in his voice.

“I think that Logan is going to be very disappointed in us. He might even get Padre to give us his Disappointed Dad Stare.” Virgil clapped a hand to his chest.

“Oh no, however will we survive.” The two of them smiled at each other before turning their attention back to the screen.

 

**Author's Note:**

> if you got this far let me know what you think!


End file.
